Captain Pollard and the Story of the Essex… holy shit

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This is actually a true story? All I want to say is what the fuck. While reading the article, “The True-Life Horror That Inspired ‘Moby-Dick,'” I was honestly appalled at the end. It’s almost impossible to think that an event like that could ever happened to someone, much less a group of people. It genuinely felt like I was reading the script to a movie. I’ve yet to read Moby-Dick, but after learning that the story of the Essex inspired Melville, I am definitely excited to dive right into the novel.

Pollard’s story is filled with sadness, trauma, guilt, irony, horror and dread. I wonder if he ever questioned why something like that happened to him. Why did his crew mates burn down an island? Why did a massive whale decided to hit his boat, not once, but twice, sinking it? Why did Chase believe the islands that might’ve saved them was filled with cannibals? Why did his cousin have to be the one shot and killed and eaten in order for the others to survive? Reading about the things that happened to Captain Pollard on this journey, the trauma he and his crew mates went through, all I can think of is holy shit.

If a man told me a story like this, much like how Pollard told Melville, I would definitely have to write a book about it too.


Emerson and the Power of Self

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In one of the most striking moments of The American Scholar, Ralph Waldo Emerson writes: “Help must come from the bosom alone. The scholar is that man who must take up into himself all the ability of the time, all the contributions of the past, all the hopes of the future. He must be an university of knowledges. If there be one lesson more than another, which should pierce his ear, it is, The world is nothing, the man is all.”

At first glance, this might sound overwhelming. How could any one person possibly “be an university of knowledges”? But I don’t think that Emerson is asking for perfection. I think he is making a much deeper point about where strength and truth really come from: within. When he says “help must come from the bosom alone,” he’s rejecting the idea that wisdom or growth can be handed to us by institutions, traditions, or even other people around us. Instead, Emerson seems to urge his reader to turn inward and to trust the resources that are planted inside of us.

That is classic Transcendentalism. The movement, after all, was built on the belief that the divine and the universal could be found within the individual. Emerson’s claim that “the world is nothing, man is all” doesn’t dismiss nature; I think that it reframes it. The world only takes on meaning when filtered through the mind of the individual. In other words, I don’t think that we receive truth passively, I think we create it by daring to think, question, and imagine.

The scholar, for Emerson, embodies this responsibility. He doesn’t seem to just memorize facts from the past or observe the present. Instead, he carries “all the ability of the time,” “all the contributions of the past,” and “all the hopes of the future” inside of himself. The true shcolar that Emerson writes about is active, daring, and above all, very self-reliant. I think this is a daunting yet empowering vision. Emerson is able to remind us that the potential for greatness isn’t just out there somewhere; it’s already inside each of us. Just waiting.

Week 2: Stealing 100 Turtles and Lighting an Island on Fire! (Boys Will Be Boys).

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I enjoyed reading about the horror’s that inspired Moby Dick.

Firstly, I love to hear when authors (like Melville) visit places of inspiration for possible literary ideas. I believe this makes for some of the best work to be created as they’re quite well immersed in the eventual “nature” of the novel-to-be.

Secondly, I found it hilarious that Pollard and his crew upon the Essex stole around 100 turtles and then lit the island on fire upon leaving. That cracked me up. I think that is such a “boy” thing to do. In addition, how tragically ironic that their initial response was to not touch the alleged “cannibal” island but to then later resort to exactly this when their hunger descended them into madness. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In all seriousness, this passage right here is really nightmarish:

“They had only the bones of the last crewmen to perish, which they smashed on the bottom of the boat so that they could eat the marrow.”

To then become obsessed with the remains of your crewmates to the point where you’re not relieved to being rescued is creepy as hell. I could only imagine the harrowing countenance of Pollard and Ramsdell in these moments.

About The American Scholar, Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Emerson describes the ideal scholar as “Man Thinking,” books, and life rather than passively absorbing ideas. He argues that true intellectual though, not blind imitation. For Emerson, the scholar must be creative, original, and deeply connected to experience, serving as a vital force in shaping society. This vision emphasizes self -reliance and the power of the individual mind.

Week 2: Cannibalism

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In the second text for this week, The True-Life Horror That Inspired Moby Dick, I found irony in the act of cannibalism. The crew’s fear of going to the islands that were rumored to have cannibals forced them out into sea, and they ended up eating each other. This act was also a bit disturbing to read about–nowadays engaging in something like that would be deeply disturbing and looked down upon. Yet, this was only about two hundred years ago, and seen as normal. Looking at historical context around events is important, and also highlights how constructed social norms are. What we see as right now, might be seen as wrong and/or immoral a hundred years in the past or future. I think having this type of critical thinking is important, as our values are often relative to the society we have been raised in. 

Another part of the cannibalism/society interaction I find interesting is that this cannibalism was seen as normal when forced into those conditions. When people are put into emergency situations, it is always interesting to see what standards/morals become quickly compromised. It makes me think about Lord of the Flies and Lost–both of which highlight what can happen when a group of people are removed from the laws of society. 
I am also interested to see how this may tie into Moby Dick. I honestly know nothing about the book except for that they are on a ship, there’s a whale, and people from different backgrounds. I wonder if there will be cannibalism in the book. I would also be interested in seeing what social norms will be present in the book that people may find ‘issue’ with nowadays, or what might be considered improper. Additionally, I found there to be a bit of karmic humor in this ‘adventure’. After setting a fire, the ship was sunk. I wonder if this may pop up as a theme in Moby Dick as well.

Intro – Aurora Copp

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Hi everyone! My name is Aurora Copp, and I am super excited to be taking this class. I have never taken a class where we only focus on one book, so I am really enthusiastic about learning as much as I can and really diving deeply into it. I am an English Single Subject Major, and I start the teaching credential program here at SDSU in the spring. I am really excited as well to get to know each of you in class! Thank you.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The American Scholar”

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Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The American Scholar” captivated me by addressing the concerns about intellectual idleness fostered by American society. He calls for the revival of the scholar as an original thinker of the present, not merely an echo of the past, to help unite a divided society. Although this was written in 1837, it is still prevalent today. With technology becoming an integral part of everyday lives, it is crucial to become unsaturated with technology and develop our own critical thoughts. The emergence of influencers on social media can make it harder to form our own opinions about even the simplest of things.

Emerson opens his speech by noting “the sluggard intellect of this continent” (Para. 1), emphasizing his belief that America’s dependence on European ideas had stifled intellectual progress in the nation. I noted this wording because it seems that Emerson is deliberately provoking his audience, hoping that people will take it as a challenge and start a new age in America, one that revives literature and independent thought. Before the emergence of social media, society could have independent thoughts; everyone seemed to have individuality. I felt like this speech was still necessary today; people should be more open to various thoughts to understand themselves better.

Emerson highlights the importance of individualism as a key to building a stronger society. He believes those who can govern themselves and think independently can contribute to a more unified society rather than a divided society ruled by social classes or ideals. He concludes “the world is nothing, the man is all.” (Para. 47) The conclusion of his speech intrigued me, and I thought that the quote was perfect for modern society – it is essential for an individual’s inner self and potential. It dismisses material things, like societal structures, and emphasizes individual power and inner strength. Emerson accentuates his conviction that progress begins with the individual scholar’s ability to think freely and connect with others, which is still a quintessential proclamation today. This speech is very much still relevant in today’s society, and I hope that as a society, we can go back to this text and continue to learn and progress from it.

My Response to Emerson’s Speech!

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So when I first saw how long this speech was I was intimidated by it. Reading it I was a bit confused until we spoke about it in class. Our discussion helped me see it a bit more clear the concepts he is trying to make us think of while we read through his speech. The line which we spoke of in class was one that made me think a bit when I read through it the first time. “In this distribution of functions, the scholar is the delegated intellect. In the right state, he is, Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men’s thinking” (paragraph 6). At first when I read that line I was confused to what Emerson was trying to tell us here but then I think I realized what he was trying to state.

We don’t want to base our own thinking off of others around us and “parrot” them and their ideas. We want to have our own thoughts and think for ourselves as we are our own person. If I am understanding this correctly, Emerson wants to make us use this to our advantage and make oursleves unique and not like everyone else. This is how we get more unique works and articles made by impressionable writers.

Another concept which I am still a bit confused on is the Nature element. Emerson states that he is ignorant of nature and his mind can not process that. He says that he wants to understand it more from what I understand. I think anyone would want to understand the world around us and concepts that we might not be very knowledgeable about. He wants to attain more knowledge so he can write about more concepts that might not be written about. Please let me know if I am on the right track with what I am thinking reguarding this reading.

Concepts like this are a bit complicated for me and I can hope that I can understand them a bit more with the help of everyone’s feedback on this post.

Emerson’s American Scholar

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After our discussion in class today, specifically the mention of how boredom begets creativity, I wanted to highlight a quote from Emerson’s essay that seemed very applicable to today in which he says “Our age is bewailed as the age of Introversion”. When I first read this I was surprised to see that even back when this was written, there was the sentiment that people are becoming more isolated from one another. I think this separation comes from the individualism that is so deeply rooted in our culture, which Emerson promotes here but, Emerson goes on to state that this doesn’t have to be to our detriment: “Must that needs be evil?. . . This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it”. This seemed like another example of Emerson pushing for the American scholar to break off from the teachings of old and avoid the stagnation of idolizing revered works rather than exploring our own thoughts provoked from the readings. I’m excited to learn from Ishmael as the vessel of these traits of the American scholar and how it might conflict with other approaches, especially the unwavering will of Ahab on his revenge quest.